The Platform Preview to the Sheffield Documentary Film Festival, 2019

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Our editorial team takes a look at this year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest, ‘Ways of Seeing’, with a review of six festival picks – from new explorations of the refugee crisis to intimate views of rural communities. The festival takes place 6 to 11 June.

Sumercé Dir. Victoria Solano (Colombia, UK)

Review by Sharaiz Chaudhry

“My homeland is not for sale!” These words by César Pachón, a community organiser in rural Colombia and an aspiring politician, summarise the David vs Goliath battle at the centre of Sumercé.

The film follows protagonists Pachón, Eduardo Moreno and Rosa Rodriguez in their travels around the páramos of Colombia, as they talk to campesinos, or farmers, and try to organise their resistance to the distant (both physically and figuratively) government in Bogotá and the big corporations that back them. False government promises, electoral corruption, authoritarian landowners, big business interests, the environment and tourism are some of the key themes touched upon, which illustrates the scale of problems they face.

The film shows these people’s determination to continue their resistance and tackle these problems head on. In my favourite scene, Rodriguez sits down with her children and explains her family’s history of activism, finishing by asking: “When your mother is gone, who will lead the people’s struggle?”

Sumercé is a stark reminder that free trade policies implemented by a faceless government, which is completely out of touch with rural life, affects the livelihoods of countless individuals. It is not only a tale of resistance against predatory capitalism and government policies, but a reaffirmation that these campesinos and their livelihoods matter.

9 and 11 June

Tiny SoulsDir. Dina Naser(Jordan)

Review by Tijen Horoz

Tiny Souls explores the Syrian refugee crisis through the lens of one family staying in a camp in Jordan. Although the personal stories delivered from these white tent cities are nothing new, the way director Dina Naser becomes part of the family – sharing in their joy and pain over a period of four years – creates an intimacy between subject and viewer that feels unique.

Naser is welcomed into the most private spaces of their makeshift home, becoming particularly close with sisters, Marwa and Ayah. As their story unfolds, even the most mundane aspects of family life become compelling against the backdrop of conflict and exile and delivered from the pair’s warm, bubbly and often hilarious perspectives.

Recalling a conversation with her own father, a Palestinian child refugee in 1948, Naser says: “I asked my father once, ‘Is there war in a camp?’ He said, ‘there’s no war…no peace either. Every day there is anticipation and fear.’” War and displacement weigh heavily on the girls, who memorise every minute detail of the conflict, yet anticipate their return to Syria with excitement.

By following their routines and adventures, the viewer may be lulled into a false sense of security, but when the family’s deepest fears are realised, we are reminded just how fragile and unpredictable the life of a refugee is.

8 and 9 June

Hi, AIDir. Isa Willinger(Germany)

Review by Umar Ali

Hi, AI explores the rise of artificial intelligence and robotics, examining how this exciting new technology could be integrated into society and what these developments could mean for humanity.

While the robots are the obvious stars of the show, ranging from simple household helpers to horrifying rubbery ghouls, what really makes them stand out isn’t what they say or do, but how humans react to them.

Humanity has created a life of sorts in its own image, and the interactions with artificial intelligence throughout the documentary reveal as much about the human condition as it does about the non-human. It’s difficult not to form an attachment to the robots, even as they rattle off facts from Wikipedia.

Hi, AI is under no illusions about the nature of robots, sending its audience careening into the uncanny valley from the first shot, but these efforts at transparency, stressing that robots are not truly alive, don’t detract from the emotional core of the piece. In fact, the documentary’s deconstruction of itself ends up enhancing its narrative, proving its points by tearing them down.

10 and 11 June

Being White Dir: Albany Video(UK)

Review by Shireen Hilmi

An eye-opening yet sadly unsurprising delve into race, Being White explores what whiteness meant to Brits in 1980s London. When asked what being white meant, the response that it felt “normal” is telling, that lack of a need to define an identity, where any other identity is “not normal”. An attitude that, even today, is not uncommon.

The views of non-English white communities still told of discrimination that is reminiscent of the treatment of Eastern European immigrants today, that pure Englishness is superior to everything, except the white, middle class status quo. Most striking, however, is the lack of progression that the English psyche has made since these dark, Thatcherite times. Rhetoric still defined by the front pages of The Sun, generalising comments based on the actions of ethnic individuals, bananas and monkey chants being thrown at Premier League football players are all still happening today, only now they mostly take the form of comments sections online.

Being White is a haunting reminder that 2019 hasn’t seen the evolution of a more civilised society where equality reigns true, it’s merely the same society, simply with new tools, such as wifi and smart phones.

10 June

Kate Nash: Underestimate the Girl Dir. Amy Goldstein (USA)

Review by Louis Bayman

This documentary follows Harrow-born singer-songwriter Kate Nash in a reflective mood as she recounts her journey from a Nando’s employee who took up the electric guitar when signed off work with a broken foot, to the runaway success of her 2007 single ‘Foundations’ and the subsequent tribulations of the limelight.

The title, ‘Underestimate the Girl’, is in tune with her story of a success not quite against the odds, but certainly against the occasional meanness of the press and the industry, and especially her ex-manager who she is now taking to court. This theme is in keeping with her persona as a vocalist, which combines a certain fragility with an emotional openness that suggests resilience.

The documentary is made up almost entirely of interviews with Nash as well as of her friends and family, so one shouldn’t expect any sense of exposé nor indeed any criticism at all. It is very much her own official story, and would be a bit boring for anyone not already committed to Nash’s personality or to her music.

10 and 11 June

La Vida En ComúnDir. Ezequiel Yanco(Argentina, France)

Review by Zainab Rahim

Spanning a landscape of desolate fields, lakes and sandy grounds, this documentary is a gentle view into the lives on an indigenous community in the north of Argentina. It’s carried along by the mellow but endearing voiceover of the young unnamed protagonist. He imagines the movements and ruthless nature of a puma, while building up an urgency to hunt the beast with his friends.

La Vida En Común focuses on these young adolescents, their facial expressions often appearing more mature than their age. Whether taking their dogs on a hunting trip, recounting a story of a parental break-up, or helping each other shave, there is a sustained thread of quiet innocence in their interactions.

The film doesn’t try to exoticise the indigenous experience, nor does it seek to separate it from the modern world; rather, it offers a glimpse into how a rural lifestyle can be integrated with a national school system and new social trends. We do see, however, what seems to be a twinge of sadness as the kids watch videos of their history and heritage. The film eventually reaches its crux by magnifying our connection to the natural elements.

If you like slow-paced documentaries, you’ll enjoy this pensive but strangely calming film.

7 and 10 June

Louis Bayman is film editor at The Platform and an academic based at the University of Southampton.

Tijen Horoz is World editor at The Platform. She completed a BA in English at KCL University, followed by an MA in Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at SOAS University.

Sharaiz Chaudhry is spirituality editor at The Platform who studied Middle East Politics at university before pursuing traditional Islamic studies.

Shireen Hilmi is the Health Editor at The Platform. She is currently working as a doctor in London.

Umar Ali is an editorial assistant on The Platform who studied Comparative Literature before pursuing a masters in newspaper journalism.

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